Boat.



E. E. HEDGES.

BOAT.

APPLICATION men JAN. 15. 1916.

1 02,? 1 3. Patented Oct. 24,1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

dwmzzfiays TED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EDWARD E. HEDGES, OF WELLESLEY HILLS, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TOAMERICAN SUBMARINE BOAT DESTROYER COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF MAINE.

BOAT.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 24, 1916.

Application filed January 15, 1916. Serial No. 72,306.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDWARD E. Hnnons, a citizen of the United States,residing at IVellesley Hills, in the county of Norfolk and State ofMassachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inBoats; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, .andexact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilledin the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters and figuresof reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specifi cation.

This invention relates to new and useful improvements in boats andparticularly to the construction of the hull of the boat, whereby theresistance of the water against the sides and bottom thereof, whilemoving through the water, is reduced to a minimum.

In the ordinary construction of boats of various shapes, the hulls havea tendency as they are driven forward to draw down into the water, thusincreasing the displacement and throwing the water from the immediatelocality of the propellers.

In the present invention, my aim is to produce a boat having apeculiarly constructed hull, whereby the boat is caused to glide overthe surface of the water without displacing it to any appreciableextent, and having a tendency to be raised, rather than to be drawn downas the speed of the boat is increased.

Another and essential feature of the invention resides in? theconstruction of the hull of a boat in such a manner that solid,una'gitated columns of water will be presented to the propeller bladeson either side of the keel, thus forming a better hold for the blades ofthe propeller.

An essential object of the invention resides in the construction of aboat hull embracing the advantages mentioned and in addition thereto theprovision of a keel extending a considerable distance below the bottomof the hull, which keel may be constructed of steel or other suitablematerial adapted to the purpose, the keel being of rocker shape anddesigned especially for use in the destruction of submarines, thecantaliver construction of the hull being such as to render the keelrigid and peculiarly adapted to this purpose.

More specifically, my invention consists 1n forming the bottom of a boatwith depending bilge-portions, between which is the keel, whereby solidcolumns of water are presented to the propeller blades, the forward andrear bilge portions being reduced, curved and merged into the prow andstern of the hull, so as to cause little or no ripple at the sides ofthe boat when it is drlven at great speed through the water.

My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in whichFigure l is a side elevation of a boat constructed in accordance with myinvention. F g. 2 is a bottom plan view of the boat. F lgs. 3, l, 5 and6 are transverse sections taken on the lines 38, 4-4:, 55 and 66 of F 1.Fig. 7 is a top plan view of the boat, and Fig. 8 is a rear view of theboat.

Reference now being had to the details of the drawings by numerals, 1designates the hull of a boat constructed in accordance with myinvention, which may be constructed of any suitable material adapted tothepurpose and may be of any desired size or, in general outline, any ofthe well known forms. The boat is provided with a keel 2 which I haveshown in the drawings as of rocker form, being of the greatest depth atits longitudinal center and extending from the bow to a point adjacentto the stern of the boat. Said keel extends along the longitudinalcenter, curving upward slightly toward the prow where it merges into thestem 3. Upon either side of the keel 2 at equal distances therefrom areprovided bilge sections 4L, 4, the said bilges extending parallel withand upon opposite sides of the keel and tapered at locations slightly inadvance of the longitudinal center of the boat, each bilge at, 4gradually decreasing in size from this point fore and aft, the ends ofthe bilges curving upward and merging into the body of the boat atpoints adjacent to its bow and stern. The forward ends of the bilgingportions merge into the prow at a short distance back of the stem andadiacent to the load water line of the boat, while the portions of thebilges extending toward the stern, from their lowest dip, rise graduallyabove the keel and merge into the stern at a point adjacent to thepropeller.

The keel 2 extends a material distance below the lowermost points of thebilges, as seen in the different views. By the provision of these bilgeportions, constructed as shown and described, channels 5, 5 are providedupon opposite sides of the keel, as will be clearly seen upon referenceto the bottom plan view of the boat shown in Fig, 2 and the crosssectional views shown in Figs. 3, 4, 5 and 6.

It will be noted that, when the boat is loaded and in trim for sailing,the water line should be in a plane coincident, or substantiallycoincident, with the upper margins of said channels 5, so that, when theboat is in motion, it will have a tendency to ride upon, glide or skipover the water without displacing a large weight of water as is commonin boats of ordinary construction.

As the boat glides forward over the surface of the water, the water isnot broken, very few ripples being formed, as two solid parallel columnsof water are presented to the blades of the propeller, these columnshaving been displaced by the sides of the boat and the space within thebilges may be utilized for coal bunkers, ballast or other material. Itwill be noted that, by the construction which I have described, theparallel bilge portions extending substantially the length of the hullprovide a construction which materially strengthens the boat and rendersit particularly adapted for each of the special uses for which it isdesigned. It will be noted that the drop keel, disposed as it is betweenthe strengthening bilge portions, will be rigidly and firmly held inposition and, while it serves to render the boat far more staunch thanit otherwise would be, the keel itself may be subjected to violentcontact with objects with which it encounters below the surface of thewater without injury to itself or to the boat to which it is attached.

It will be noted that the keel extends a considerable distance below thebottom line of the bilges, thus presenting a formidable weapon when theboat is used for destroying submarine vessels. This will be at onceapparent when it is understood that the construction of a submarine isnecessarily such as to render it peculiarly subject to injury whichmight be sustained by contact with other moving objects. The rocker formof the keel, as well as its being disposed between the strengtheningbilge portions of the boat upon opposite sides, serves to cause thecutting narrow bottom of the keel to impart to the submarine with whichit contacts an oblique cutting motion which would not be imparted wereit not for the peculiar form of the keel and it will be at once evidentthat an impact of this character would be far more destructive to theobject with which it is moved into contact than would a direct impact.

In the accompanying drawings, I have shown a boat which is entirelyinclosed and provided with turrets 7, 7 of suflicient height to renderthe same available for observation purposes as well as for carryingsuitable guns. 8 is a hatchway providing entrance to the interior of theboat.

It will. be at once evident that torpedo tubes or other attachmentsadapted to the use to which the boat is intended can be included butsuch construction forms no part of the present invention. It will be atonce evident also that, in case the boat is designed for a pleasure boator other uses than that of a submarine destroyer, the upper works shownmay be dispensed with and any form of cabin or deckage may be used ifdesired, the essential objects of the invention residing in theconstruction of the hull with its bilges and keel so interposed betweenthe bilges as to conduct solid channels of water directly to the bladesof the propeller. In case the boat is built for pleasure purposes, theform of the keel may be modified to adapt the boat to the particular usefor which it is intended.

What I claim to be new is 1. A boat having drop bilges extendinglongitudinally thereof and a keel intermediate said bilges to formchannels extending substantially the entire length of the boat at thewater line, said keel extending a ma terial distance below said bilgesthroughout the length thereof and to the upper margin of said channels,said upper margin being designed to be substantially in a planecoincident with the surface of the water.

2. A boat having a rocker keel and drop bilges upon opposite sidesthereof, said keel extending along the longitudinal center below saidbilges from stem to stern and curving upwardly toward the prow, eachbilge gradually decreasing in size from the center of the boat towardeach end.

3. A boat having a rocker keel and drop bilges upon opposite sidesthereof, said keel extending along the longitudinal center below saidbilges from stem to stern and curving upwardly toward the prow, eachbilge gradually decreasing in size from the center of the boat towardeach end, the ends of said bilges curving upwardly and merging into thebody of the boat at points adjacent the bow and stern.

4:. A boat having a rocker keel and drop bilges upon opposite sidesthereof, said keel extending along the longitudinal center and curvingupwardly toward the prow, each bilge gradually decreasing in size fromthe center of the boat toward each end, the ends of said bilges curvingupwardly and merging into the body of the boat at points adjacent thebow and stern, said keel extending materially below the bottom edges ofsaid bilges from stem to stern.

5. A boat having a rocker keel and drop bilges upon opposite sidesthereof, said keel Li gg mama; :1 Mil its??? extending along thelongitudinal center point rising gradually above the keel and 10 fromstem to stern and curving upwardly merging into the stern at a pointadjacent toward the prow, each bilge gradually dethe rear end of theboat. creasing in size from the center of the boat In testimony whereofI hereunto aflix my 5 toward each end, the ends of said bilges signaturein presence of two witnesses.

curving upwardly and merging into the EDWARD E. HEDGES. body of the boatat points adjacent the bow Witnesses:

and stern, the portions of the bilges extend- FRANKLIN H. HOUGH,

ing toward the stern from their lowest A. R. F OWLER.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe commissioner of l'atentl, Washington, D. G.

